Debbie Mills of Huntington Beach, CA boards a westbound Capitol Corridor train in Hayward. Helping her with her bags is Capitol Corridor's Matt Zundel. Mills was in Danville visiting relatives, prior to heading back home.
The Capitol Corridor, a train service run by parts of nearly a dozen agencies, shouldn't work. Too many bureaucrats have their hands in it and it relies on tracks heavily traveled by freight trains. But the increasingly popular commuter train service turns 15 this month and its popularity is soaring.
Photo by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT

Photo: Michael Maloney

Debbie Mills of Huntington Beach, CA boards a westbound Capitol...

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A westbound Capitol Corridor train pulls up to the Hayward station.
The Capitol Corridor, a train service run by parts of nearly a dozen agencies, shouldn't work. Too many bureaucrats have their hands in it and it relies on tracks heavily traveled by freight trains. But the increasingly popular commuter train service turns 15 this month and its popularity is soaring.
Photo by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT

Photo: Michael Maloney

A westbound Capitol Corridor train pulls up to the Hayward...

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Debbie Mills of Huntington Beach, CA (facing camera) hugs goodbye to her daughter Amethyst Thomas of Danville prior to boarding a westbound Capitol Corridor train in Hayward. In background is Capitol Corridor's Matt Zundel. Mills was in Danville visiting Thomas' family, prior to heading back home.
The Capitol Corridor, a train service run by parts of nearly a dozen agencies, shouldn't work. Too many bureaucrats have their hands in it and it relies on tracks heavily traveled by freight trains. But the increasingly popular commuter train service turns 15 this month and its popularity is soaring.
Photo by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT

Photo: Michael Maloney

Debbie Mills of Huntington Beach, CA (facing camera) hugs goodbye...

Image 4 of 4

Capitol Corridor. Chronicle Graphic

Capitol Corridor. Chronicle Graphic

BAY AREA / Capitol Corridor riding high / 15 years of clean comfortable trips leave most passengers satisfied as commuter line marks anniversary

Fifteen years ago, Amtrak and Caltrans began a new passenger train service connecting the Bay Area and Sacramento with three round-trip trains a day. The Capitol Corridor trains quickly drew standing-room crowds on some trains and prompted some predictions of a rail renaissance.

They appear to have been prescient -- at least where the Capitol Corridor is concerned.

Today, the rail service runs 16 round-trip trains between Oakland and Sacramento, including seven of those that go as far as San Jose and one that goes to and from Auburn. A total of 1.3 million passengers rode the Capitols in the past 12 months compared with 273,000 in the first year of operations.

And the train has become the third-most popular line in Amtrak's national passenger rail network, behind the New York-Washington Northeast corridor trains and the Pacific Surfliner between San Luis Obispo and San Diego.

Along the way, the Capitol Corridor trains also picked up an unusually complex governing structure, at least a dozen new or remodeled stations and a fleet of 78 modern and comfortable two-level "California cars" with snazzy blue, red and gold paint jobs.

"It's been an interesting ride," said Eugene Skoropowski, managing director of the rail service.

And a comfortable one, according to the ever-growing number of passengers who say it's a great way to travel.

"It's clean, they provide outlets for your laptop, they have special seating at tables for people who are working, and they have food," said Krystle Cho, a UC Davis senior who often rides the train to visit her family in Daly City. "It's a nice ride. You feel safe and secure. It isn't your normal public transportation."

Skoropowski, who has presided over the Capitol Corridor boom over the last seven years, said the secret is simple: Give people trains that depart frequently, make the trip in a reasonable amount of time, and are fairly reliable. When he took over as head of the Capitol Corridor, he stressed the addition of trains as his top priority. Now, he brags that the frequency of Capitol Corridor trains is equal to those on the Northeast corridor.

"The key is being available when people want to travel," he said. "If you have enough frequency, you almost don't need a schedule. You know a train is going to be around soon."

The Capitol Corridor has also had to overcome other obstacles, including a bizarre governing structure that involves federal, state, regional and local government agencies. It's had to squeeze more trains onto tracks owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, which is seeing its own boom in freight traffic. And it hasn't had a state budget increase in five years.

Although Amtrak operates the service, it is subsidized by the state through Caltrans, managed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and overseen by a seven-county joint-powers authority. That potentially bureaucratic arrangement, required by state legislation in 1996, hasn't proven to be a problem, Skoropowski said.

Crowding on the rails has been, however. To cope with the freight traffic problem, the Capitol Corridor and the state have paid for additional tracks at chokepoints at the Yolo causeway near Davis, south of Jack London Square in Oakland, at the Oakland Coliseum, in Newark and in San Jose. Those track improvements have allowed more trains to go south to San Jose and enhanced reliability.

But Skoropowski acknowledged that keeping the trains on time is a problem. In October, on-time performance was 80 percent -- not good enough, he said. And passengers agree, though many say it hasn't affected their overall positive impression of the service. The Altamont Commuter Express and many other Amtrak trains, including the Coast Starlight, share the problem of running late when railroad dispatchers give freight trains priority.

"It's late a lot," said Carol Johnson, 58, who lives in Sacramento and rides the train to Berkeley weekly. "Last week it was 50 minutes late on the way down and was absurdly late on the way home."

She passed the time hanging out with some fellow train riders she's met over the past eight years.

"I have train buddies," she said. "We drink coffee on the way down and wine on the way back."

Passenger rail advocates are also pleased with the Capitol Corridor.

"It's been more successful than anyone expected," said Richard Silver, head of the Railroad Passengers Association of California. "I don't think anyone anticipated that they would ever add so many trains."

As the Capitol Corridor rolls into the future, Skoropowski would like to get more rail cars so he can run longer trains, and make the track improvements necessary to run more trains between San Jose and Auburn.

"If there's anything that keeps me going it's that we're a real passenger rail success story in America," he said. "Anyone who says people won't ride trains in America need to look at us. We have a real success here in California -- the capital of American car culture."